Scrubs: "Our Thanks" Review

And so we come to the end... again.

Like many Scrubs titles, this one had a double-meaning. The main plotline centered around the year-end ceremony where medical students thanked the families of the dead relatives that served as their teaching tools. And if this was, in fact, the final episode of Scrubs' 9-season run, then it also served to thank everyone for making it such a success.

Of course, the pink elephant in the room is the fact that this wasn't the series finale - that happened last year with J.D.'s emotional walk down Sacred Heart's hallway, reminiscing about the people he'd met (dead or alive) and finished up with a behind-the-scenes farewell to the cast and crew, including creator Bill Lawrence. So even though this may have been the official "final" episode, there will always be an asterisk next to it. I applaud the show for understanding this awkward situation and not trying to compete with last season's heart-tugging finale, but it still could've been funnier. Things were left open to the possibility for continuation next season, but we'll have to wait and see.

Because of stress and long working hours, the medical students really didn't want to get involved with the ceremony except for Lucy, who continued to be the most positive and energetic character on the show this season. While Drew was busy having commitment issues with Denise and Cole was trying hard to be Dr. Turk's surgical protege, Lucy was left trying to figure out a fitting tribute for Ben, the patient we met in the season premiere who wound up being her group's cadaver. In an example of what has been ailing this show all season, Lucy's speech was fine, but it didn't punch me in the gut like the show used to do. Scrubs' success was due to its ability to tug at your heartstrings and make you belly laugh at the same time, and this episode just couldn't match that. If this episode was indeed the series finale, we'll just have to remember the better days.

For one of the few times this season, Cole's storyline was actually the most interesting. He was deciding what field to enter and due to his successful surgery that got rid of his skin cancer from last episode, he felt it was fate, ("you know, the stuff they talk about during the boring parts of Lost,") that drew him to want to be a surgeon. The only problem was, after years of seeing how crazy J.D. used to drive Dr. Cox, Dr. Turk didn't want that responsibility with Cole. I enjoyed this part of the episode because they made Cole a realistic character (something that has been inconsistent this season,) while still maintaining his cluelessness about proper social behavior, as we saw when Lucy walked in to discover him practicing sutures on her treasured collection of stuffed horses.

As for Drew and Denise, I don't know what happened. They started off the season as interesting characters with mysterious pasts and thick skins but then they fell into a lull where they didn't have much to say or do. They blended together to become a two-headed low-talking monster with relationship issues. I was really on-board with the Dr. Cox/Drew pair-up when the season started, but with the exception of a handful of episodes, it never really materialized the way I would've hoped. I wanted Drew and Denise to move on to storylines that were about something other than their relationship, but that's what we got yet again in the finale.

I realize Scrubs was in a difficult position with this finale, given that they'd already done one a year ago, and given that the emotional component of this entire season never matched those of season's past, they at least could've given us some better jokes. But if this is the end, and the theme of the episode was thanks, then I'd also like to thank them for a great run - it was fun to watch.